My 2014-2015 Preschool Classroom Tour

I’m so excited to be a part of a virtual preschool classroom tour with some amazing preschool teachers! Once you’re done here, be sure to see what the others have done in their classrooms this year.

I feel like I need to start by saying that my classroom’s not entirely “finished”. In fact, I almost didn’t join in this blog hop for that very reason. Then I remembered – my classroom is always in a state of transition! Artwork is put up and taken down every week (sometimes daily, depending on what the kiddos want to share), furniture is rearranged to create a better traffic patterns for the students, etc. So I hope you don’t mind! 🙂

This summer, I moved classrooms. In fact, I moved into my new classroom in just a couple of days! We had to move some of the younger classes to different rooms to ensure we remained in compliance with new building codes. This meant demolition, construction, and even new floors in some rooms. I moved into the old nursery and toddler rooms – they had to knock down a wall to create my new classroom, which is why the move-in process was super quick!

Cell phone picture of my room mid-demolition

Since we have more pre-kindergartners this year, I’ve also been given more space. I essentially have three classrooms this year, along with two awesome assistant teachers. I’ve given the rooms different names, based on their functions! The main room, aka “The Hub” is the largest classroom. It’s where we do sign in, circle time, eat lunch, have snack, and get together as an entire class. The “Messy Room” is our arts, crafts, and sensory area. It has a sink, which makes it perfect for all our messiness! The “Loud Room” houses our building center and our home/pretend play center.

Welcome to my preschool classroom!

Today, I’m focusing on the main classroom. I’ll share the other two rooms sometime in October. So, here goes . . . As you walk into The Hub, our word wall is on the left-hand wall. Obviously, it still needs my students’ names put up! Then it’s the teacher corner – supply cabinets, paperwork, office supplies, coffee cups, etc. I have to admit, I’m a stacker – the counters often hold piles of papers in the middle of the week! The writing center table is next to the teacher cabinets, ready for the kiddos to draw and write. It does double duty as a lunch and snack table too.

On the side of Big Blue (a beat up metal cabinet), I posted a visual schedule for the kiddos (and teachers). I need to laminate everything and update the photos, but it’s up! The writing center supplies are within reach of the writing table. The top of that cart usually holds the students’ water bottles, paper towels, and baby wipes. Our collaborative corn painting is in a place of honor, and we have another piece in the works to go above it. On the other side of the cart, our science center supplies are housed. We’ve got some pictures up alongside the supplies – including a photo of one of the students’ dogs and a picture of a praying mantis found on a child’s car.

The reading center is located in a corner of the classroom near the science area. When the room was a nursery, it had a mural along the back wall. My assistants and I thought the tree would be a great backdrop for some reading and relaxation. The children have a kid-sized couch, a couple of bean bags, pillows, and a variety of “reading buddies”. Of course, there are lots of books for the children to choose from! Their book boxes are located on the bottom of the bookshelf – it’s where we keep their journals, name kits, and book-making books.

Right past the reading center is the math and fine motor center. Up along the wall is a colorful frame collage to show off some of the kids’ artwork. Those frames were a pain to put up on the wall, but I’m happy with how it turned out! I’ll likely add a few more frames up there so that every child’s work is represented.

Last but not least, we have our circle time area and puzzle/alphabet center! For circle time, I’ve got the calendar up, helper tags, and weather chart. My pointers, the flag, and a variety of puzzles and alphabet manipulatives are located nearby. Everything takes place on a large rug the kiddos enjoy playing on.

Thanks for coming along on a tour of my main preschool classroom! I’m really enjoying the new space, especially the light coming in from the large windows! I still have a variety of things I want to add – photos of the kids at each center, blue fabric draped above the reading center, some kind of window treatments, etc.

So, tell me more about your preschool classroom! I’d love to hear about it! Please be sure to check out the amazing classrooms of some of my preschool teacher/blogger buds. I can’t wait to see what their environments look like.

Comments

This is so beautiful, Mary Catherine! I would have never guessed you just moved in because it’s already so personalized and detailed. How fun to have a wall mural for the backdrop of your reading center. Thank you so much for sharing your classroom!

Mary Catherine – what a great classroom! I’m so in awe of your storage cabinets:) The tree makes the room such an inviting place to play and learn! Thank you so much for sharing your learning environment with all of us!